PDHPE (Personal Development, Health, and Physical Education) should be taught in primary schools for several key reasons: It promotes making healthy lifestyle choices, physical activity and skill development, positive social skills, healthy and safe environments, and fun with friends. Specifically, it encourages balanced diets, exercise, cooperation, safety awareness, and social interaction through physical education and health lessons.

1. Why should PDHPE
be taught in
primary schools?
• Personal Development, Health, and Physical
Education (PDHPE) comprises one of the six key
learning areas (KLA) in the NSW primary school
curriculum.
• It is important to teach and to engage in PDHPE
as it is essential for healthy personal
development, and the benefits of PDHPE are
extensive.

2. Promotes making healthy
lifestyle choices
Making healthy choices can improve your health by resulting
in increased nutrient-intake and physical exercise, which have
their own many documented benefits.
Such healthy choices include:
• Active > Sedentary
• Balanced, nutritious diet > Imbalanced, unhealthy diet
• Moderation > Gluttony
By teaching students to adopt healthy attitudes and
behaviours through PDHPE, students can be inspired to make
lifestyle changes which will improve their overall health and
well being.

3. Promotes physical
activity and skills
Children should participate in physical
activity on a regular basis, as this can:
• Enhance bone and muscle development;
• Improve cardiovascular efficiency, lower blood pressure
and blood cholesterol levels
• Control body weight and reduce the risk of some diseases
(e.g. type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease);
• Enhance movement skills;
• Help children to sleep better and to focus and
concentrate when required;
• Improve psychological health; and
• Better handle emotional and physical challenges.

4. Develop positive social skills
By participating in physical activities, students may gather
useful skills that may be applied elsewhere in their daily lives.
These include:
• Interaction;
• Negotiation;
• Problem-solving and conflict
resolution;
• Effective communication;
• Cooperation; and
• Tolerance
These may be transferred in to other areas of children’s lives
and are useful in developing positive social relationships with
peers.

5. Promotes healthy and
safe environments
Being in a positive and safe environment is essential to good
health.
• Through PDHPE, students can be taught to recognise
situations in which their personal safety and the safety of
others may be put at risk.
• Students can also learn strategies that they may use to
avoid danger and unsafe situations, and how to protect
themselves if they find themselves in such situations.
And finally, PDHPE allows you to
have fun with your friends!